THE ZOMBIE SYSTEM - Chapter 50: Cost of Holding the Line

[You have just awakened your first dragon: SSS-Rank Fire Dragon.]Drahon was born with dragon-like horns, and because of that, his parents abandoned him at an orphanage. Mocked, bullied, and branded a freak, he never knew where he truly belonged.Until one day, while serving punishment, he stumbled upon a mysterious egg...A dragon egg that opened a portal and led him into The Dragon Game.[You have summoned an SSS-Rank Demon wrymling.][You have evolved your SSS-Rank Primordial Frost Dragon into a Multi Fire-Frost Dragon.][Upgrading Fire-Frost Dragon Roar ×10...]Bond with dragons and summon them in battle? Of course. All Ranked 'SSS'Draconic skills? Master them.Monster bosses? Shatter them.Half-dragon, half-monster abominations? Burn them.Mandatory roleplaying? Absolutely. Rule kingdoms, command medieval armies, and go to war.Enemies? They’re just EXP.And just after Level One, he uncovers the shocking truth behind the game’s existence...And discovers the reason for his horns: he’s half dragon, and that grants him the ability to transform into a half dragon, half human form.[You have just slain a cerberus-class half-dragon monster.][Absorbing essence...]And now?He’ll be more than the horned freak they abandoned —He’ll become Dragon Lord.[A/N: It gets much better after level one]

[Mind Reading + Pet of the Group + Transmigration into a Book + System + Pretending to be Weak to Strike Powerful Enemies + Cannon Fodder’s Counterattack]

Xiao Chuchu transmigrated with a palace scheming system and foreknowledge about the future into the early-passing cannon fodder princess in the book.

Her Father Emperor would be poisoned to death, her Mother Consort forced to die in burial with Father Emperor, her elder brother and entire maternal family – loyal officials – would meet cruel fates!

The Xiao Dynasty would soon be destroyed under the new Emperor’s hand.

[Mother Consort ah, you did not fight or snatch, yet still incurred the jealousy of the Imperial Noble Consort, who issued an order for you to be buried alive with Father Emperor!] [Elder brother ah, accomplished in both civil and military affairs, yet still viewed with suspicion by the new Emperor after Father Emperor’s death, plotted against and killed at the border pass.] [Maternal grandfather ah, clean and honest your whole life yet still falsely charged by the new Emperor with six major crimes, your whole family exiled and killed!] [Father Emperor ah, you were poison-swapped and killed while concocting elixirs and seeking the Dao by the Imperial Consort. After your death, the new Emperor abolished old laws, killed hundreds of loyal officials, imprisoned top generals, borders lost, people struggling to survive! Our ancestors’ legacy destroyed in less than two years!]

As Xiao Chuchu suckled milk, her Father Emperor, Mother Consort, elder brother, and maternal grandfather were all dumbstruck.

[Oh no, it’s over.]

Xiao Chuchu lamented that she was but a baby, able to do nothing.

But very quickly she noticed something amiss –

Her Mother Consort, rising higher and higher in rank, Noble Lady, Concubine, Consort, Noble Consort…much favored among the six palaces.

Her elder brother, originally unrelated to the throne, was established as Crown Prince.

Her maternal grandfather’s family, quite valued and relied upon…

Her Emperor Father still hadn’t died!

On the contrary, the treacherous Empress, Consorts, and new Emperor met their ends prematurely…?

How could things turn out this way?

Xiao Chuchu didn’t understand.

Soon her Father unified six nations ahead of time, opened maritime prohibitions, started mutual markets, took the Silk Road…the Xiao Dynasty rose to great power!

What life is left for a warrior when there is no more enemy to fight?

…He knelt before her in the posture of a soldier giving honor to their Queen. And she didn’t even know it.

“Harth,” he rasped, “I come empty-handed. I bring no weapon. Because I swear to you, I will never choose to harm you. Never draw your blood—in anger, or in fear. I bring no shield. Because I vow I will never defend myself from your eyes, your hands, your mind. I am yours.”

*****

After a year of peace in Anima, Tarkyn finds himself… lonely. As the Captain of the Queen’s Guard and a lion-shifter, he has met every female in the tribes, but never found his mate. Certain he must have overlooked someone, Tarkyn undertakes a grueling ritual, pleading with the Creator to reveal her. But the ritual presses him to the end of even his formidable strength.

Yet, the Creator heard his cry…

Discovered on the brink of death by his mate, Harth, and nursed back to health, Tarkyn now faces the most difficult battle of his life. Because Harth isn’t just a stranger to the Anima, she is a weapon of the humans who tried to destroy them.

Can the love of a warrior and his enemy bring peace to Anima? Or will they be torn apart forever by war between their peoples?

*****

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STANDALONE STORY: While Tarkyn’s story is a part of the Anima world and fans will be reunited with some of their favorites as side-characters, Tarkyn and Harth are new POV characters and their story is a new plot arc, so their story can be enjoyed without reading the previous books! But please add Falling in Love with the King of Beasts, and Taming the Queen of Beasts to your library to enjoy later!

Sharon was an ordinary person, while her husband, Wallace Harris, was a promising and handsome man. His family was one of the most prestigious and wealthiest families in New York City. Being able to marry Wallace was an accident.

Throughout their three years of marriage, Wallace had never slept with Sharon. His family also kept persuading him to divorce Sharon.

It was the birthday party of the Harris family’s old matriarch, and all youngsters of the Harris family had given the most expensive gifts possible to make the old lady happy—everyone but Sharon. She asked to borrow money from Madam Harris for the old housekeeper, Uncle Smith, as he had no money to pay for his medical treatment. But as expected, the Harris family humiliated her when she requested.

“The Harris family has never had a poor relative like you. Don’t you ever appear in front of me again! Wallace should’ve married Crystal. She’s certainly a young lady who’s worthy of marrying into our family!” said Madam Harris.

“Please know your place and get out of here. Don’t stay at our house anymore. How can Wallace’s grandfather be so foolish to marry a poor, useless woman like you to my son?!” said June, Wallace’s mother.

“It’s just a few million dollars, yet you’re so poor that you need to borrow from our family. How can a woman like you deserve to be with Wallace? If it were Crystal, she definitely wouldn’t have embarrassed us so much!”

That night, Wallace handed Sharon a bank card, which contained millions of dollars. “The company is developing, so I don’t have much cash. You can use this to help Uncle Smith.”

Facing the Harris family’s hostility, Wallace stated, “Since I have married her, she is my responsibility. Regardless of her being rich or poor, Sharon is my wife.”

It wasn’t until a stranger approached Sharon one day. Only then did Sharon know that she was the daughter of a top prestigious family, who was eligible to receive assets worth at least ten billion.

She suddenly owned the largest company in New York and a bank card that contained hundreds of millions of ‘pocket money.’

In the blink of an eye, her identity had changed. She was no longer the poor daughter-in-law that wasn’t favored by the Harris family. Instead, she had become the most prestigious person in New York!